EURO 2008

France – Thiery Henry looked like he is off his prime, scuttering an easy one-on-one with the goal keeper in the previous game. The rest of the French players also looked slow and not up to the mark.

Thiery Henry looked like he is off his prime, missing a one-on-one.

Italy – Played well against Romania only to have a goal denied by the referee for off-side. Bufon saved  a penalty from Adrian Mutu to give Italy a life line.

Bufon saved a penalty by Adrian Mutu

Verdict: Both side needed a win and depends on Netherlands to beat Romania. The results won’t matter if Romania beat a relaxed Netherlands. Both sides are evenly matched in a game that can go either way.
Score: France 0-0 Italy.

Market odds: France (+0.825), Italy (-1/4, -0.9)

Netherlands – The Dutch lived up to their expectation playing the beautiful game in a most beautiful way, by demolishing Italy 3-0. Looks likely to top Group C.

Sneijda scoring the most beautiful goal of the tournament thus far.

France – Still plague with injury problems, the French looked like they have lose their killer punch, looking tired and lacking pace. Thiery Henry and Patrick Viera look set to come off the bench.

Claude Makelele

Prediction – The flamboyance of the Dutch to outclass France. Score: 2-0.

Market odds: Netherlands (0, +0.85), France (-0.925)

Romania – Romania top the qualifiers in the group which included Netherlands and Bulgaria. They had been a permanent feature in all Euro and World Cup tournaments in recent memories. They had talent all round and play fast attacking football. The coach is still in the process of experimenting with their defence as he is reportingly not happy with the back four in the most recent friendly with Montenegro although they won 4-0.

France – Features three old horses in the likes of Patrick Viera, Lilian Thuram and Thiery Henry who will be joined by some new blood as well. Viera will miss the opener due to a thigh injury. Franck Ribery, William Gallas and Lilian Thuram are also not 100% fit. It has a couple of rising stars, first is the 20-year-old Samsir Nasri, touted another Zinedine Zidane in the making after Ribery. Then there’s 20-year-old Karim Benzema who has kocked in 20 league goals for Lyon and wanted by Manchester United.

Prediction – This is the group of death and the result for this game can go both ways. Expect France to keep a super tight defence. This is at most a single goal game with every possibility of a goalless draw. However, France might just sneak in a goal with Romania’s defence still unsettled and no further experimenting possible, score: Romania 0-1 France.

Market odds: France (-1/2, +0.9), Romania (-0.975)